


From the Ashes

by Heero_De_Fanel



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, トランスフォーマー 超神マスターフォース | Transformers: Super-God Masterforce
Genre: Cab and Minerva try to help, Clouder is sorry, Gen, Headmaster Junior friendship ahoy, Masterforce really needs more love, Shuta gets angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 15:31:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8583850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heero_De_Fanel/pseuds/Heero_De_Fanel
Summary: Masterforce story, post episode 33. In the midst of chaos and defeat, one Headmaster Junior is finding it harder than most to cope.





	

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

Currently, those were the dominant thoughts going through Go Shuta's head as he stared alone at the setting sun. Really, it would have been a beautiful sight it not for the fact right below it lay the smoking ruins of what had been the Cybertron base. A former marvel of technology and his father's final legacy; vanished into nothing.

"What a mess," he muttered to himself in a clinical, detached manner, as he surveyed the landscape for what seemed like a millionth time.

Dimly, he recognized that he should have been more angry, more upset. But instead all he felt was a bone-weary exhaustion – what was the point? He hadn't had the time to even get angry, not with the base coming down around his ears and Hawk being injured as he was. And he knew that sobbing like a child wouldn't have exactly helped things, either.

Still, he knew that he simply couldn't be around everyone else the way he was right now (the last thing Ginrai-san needed was to deal with a brooding teenager) and luckily for him Hawk had given him his blessing to slip off unnoticed. Shuta knew why; the pained look in the Pretender's eyes had no doubt matched his own, and he knew that his mentor was mourning his inability to safeguard your father's work.

They had been friends too, after all. Shuta could only hope that Hawk knew that he had tried his best and only abandoned the base when there was no other option. The youth would be forever grateful to him for that.

"Wonder what everyone else is doing right now," he mumbled, still making no move to turn around and rejoin them. He doubted they even noticed if he was gone, or if they did Hawk had run cover for him – they had more important things to worry about, anyway.

The sound of footsteps caught his attention, then, and he strained his ears carefully to hear any sign of a greeting. Nothing.

All right then, fine. Not bothering to turn around, Shuta spoke. "I'm fine, whoever it is. Hawk knows I'm out here already."

There was no response at first. Then, the Headmaster heard a deep, unsteady breath, and:

"Hey."

Immediately, Shuta felt his blood start to boil. The rage that he should have felt earlier was now present with a vengeance, swirling around inside his gut furiously, and for the first time ever Shuta was wishing that his armor came with a very big gun. Seriously? Why the hell would he come back now, of all times?

When Shuta finally responded, however. it was in a calm, even tone. Rather polite by his standards, as a matter of fact.

"Clouder," Shuta acknowledged the Godmaster, still facing away from him. "What do you want?"

* * *

"Okay, he's been gone for a while now," Cab announced, the Karin prince looking more than a little pensive. "Where did he sneak off to, anyway?"

Minerva could only shake her head helplessly. "I have no idea," she told him, twisting a strand of hair around her finger nervously. "The last I saw of him he was speaking with Hawk-san about something…"

She didn't bother adding that was also the last time he had bothered to speak with – or even make eye contact with – any of the Cybertrons, his fellow Juniors included. Their friend had been totally silent ever since the base's destruction and he had vanished somewhere about 45 minutes ago. "Do you think he's okay?" she asked Cab anxiously.

"Did you see the look on his face when the base went? I really doubt it," Cab replied, as he crossed his arms. "I can't say I blame him though. I mean, I don't know how I would have reacted if I had been in his position…"

The blonde nodded slowly, a cold sensation working its way into her stomach. She felt more than a little bit guilty over the fact that it was her idea to bring Clouder into the base in spite of everyone's misgivings, and even though it had gained them a formidable ally in the long run she knew that Shuta probably didn't care about that right now.

"We need to go find him," Minerva suddenly said, standing firm. Cab was taken aback for a second, but smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we do. That guy shouldn't be brooding around anyway – it's not his style! We'll snap him out of it, no problem," the prince said, flashing a 'V' sign with his right hand.

Minerva smiled weakly. "I hope you're right. Who knows? Maybe he's cooled down by now…"

* * *

"I asked you a question, y'know," Shuta said quietly, his tone still even and level. "Least you could do is answer."

Clouder blinked, the confusion on his face evident. He had come here expecting anger, maybe some tears, and an infuriated Headmaster howling for blood, but from what he had seen so far Shuta was taking this remarkably well.

Far too well, all things considered.

"I came – look," Clouder began, stumbling over his words. Mentally cursing, he began again – he hadn't been this tongue-tied when he had spoken with Ginrai, although the Godmaster had been transparently conciliatory from the start. Shuta, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically giving away nothing.

"I screwed up," the bespectacled youth said quietly, staring at the ground in front of him. "I let myself be used by the Destrons and it cost you guys. I told your leader that I wanted to work with you guys from now on, and he accepted."

Clouder caught the barest ripple of movement from the younger teen's head, but otherwise there was no reaction from Shuta. Feeling even more uncertain now than before, the Godmaster resumed speaking.

"I heard about what this base meant to you," he said quietly, feeling the shame well up inside him. "There's not a lot I can say that can make this better, but for what it's worth – I'm sorry. I'll make this right, somehow."

And that was that. Still, the Headmaster said nothing, not even as the voices of Minerva and Cab rang out in unison calling his name, only stopping when they came into view of their little summit.

Minerva's eyes widened, but she remained silent. Cab was much the same; Shuta hadn't said anything yet, and in case anything happened – well, he was ready.

Seconds passed, and Clouder soon grew more and more worried. This was unnerving him far more then he thought it would, and before he could think better of it he opened his mouth again.

"Well? What do you – " he began. He never got a chance to finish.

"I heard you. Shut up."

Everybody present flinched. The ice-cold tone present in Shuta's voice could have made molten lava reverse flow and go back upstream, and it was currently being directed at Clouder, much to the Godmaster's chagrin.

"You're sorry?" the Headmaster quietly repeated, the contempt in his voice palpable. "Your bombs could have killed us all, Hawk's out of commission, my dad's base is – " he stopped then, a brief hitch in his words, before pressing on " – gone, and all you've got is you're _fucking_ _sorry_?"

Cab and Minerva were now looking at each other wide-eyed, neither knowing what to do. Oh sure, they had heard Shuta angry before – given his quick temper, it would have been a challenge not to. He always cooled down relatively quickly, anyway, and besides, the other two Juniors often had their bursts of histrionics as well.

They had never, however, witnessed the icy and focused fury he was possessed by now and they found themselves paralyzed to do anything. Cab for his part was simply stunned into silence and inaction – was the teen standing in front of him really the easy-going friend he had first met in Karin? He was vaguely aware of Minerva looking more and more upset, but neither made a move forward.

Clouder swallowed hard. This was more in line with what he had been expecting, though the fact Shuta's voice hadn't risen one bit was starting to weigh on the back of his mind. "Yes," he responded simply, unable to say much else. "I regret what I did, but I couldn't go away without facing you guys first. The least I could do is – "

"Leave."

That stopped the blue haired Godmaster cold. The word had come out like a whip crack despite only having been spoken at barely above a whisper, and Clouder suddenly began to feel very cold. "W-what?"

"You heard me. You've said what you wanted to. Now get out of my sight."

If Shuta heard the little gasp from Minerva, he gave no indication – as a matter of fact, he had yet to turn around and face the new arrivals, his gaze still focused on the wreckage of the base in front of him.

Cab finally spoke then, feeling the need to get him out. "Think you'd better do what he says," he whispered quietly to Clouder, stepping a bit closer to him. The Karin prince wasn't anymore pleased with him than anyone else, true, but it was kind of hard to hold a grudge when you were worrying about your friend possibly having a psychotic episode a few feet away. "He's not in any mood to talk right now."

"Understatement," Clouder muttered a tinge bitterly, but nodding in understanding acquiescence. Looking at Shuta's back one more time, he said "I know that you might not be willing to accept anything now, but I meant what I said about trying to make this up. I hope one day that – "

Shuta just barely turned his head to the left then, just enough to make eye contact with the ex-Destron and the two Juniors. One look into his focused eyes stalled anything else Clouder might have had to say, and he stepped back instinctively.

They were not the warm brown eyes of the friendly soccer player. No, they were cold eyes. They were angry eyes. They were eyes that promised violence if he spoke anymore, and for the second time that day Clouder felt himself fearing for his life except this time he doubted the blonde medic would bail him out.

Said medic involuntarily took a step back as well, getting more and more worried as she gazed upon her friend. Cab was now looking around wildly between the two, knowing that everything could go to hell in a few seconds and also knowing full well that he might not be able to stop it.

"Not another word, Clouder. Not one more," he said softly, turning around fully and regarding the older male with a gaze that was unbelievably piercing for the utter lack of emotion it contained.

"I don't know why you came here. I don't know what you hoped to accomplish. I'll be honest; I don't give a damn about anything you have to say. I couldn't care less how sorry you are, because it doesn't change what's been done. If you came here looking for absolution, I can't help you."

Clouder's mouth opened once, then twice. "I – "

"Another thing," Shuta's voice rang out again, still at the same volume it was when he greeted Clouder. "You may be right. One day I might just find it in me to forgive you. Hell, stranger things have happened – one day I was playing soccer and the next I found out that my dad was helping out a race of alien robots."

A brief pause. "One day, maybe. But not today," Shuta told him, making no attempt to hide his disdain. "This – " he gestured with his arm out toward the ruin, " – is all that's left of my father's work, thanks to you. His life's work. Gone."

Turning back toward the Godmaster now, Shuta's expression was now totally neutral – except for his eyes, which remained as cold and hard as they were. "I'm not telling you to leave because I want to mourn or cry. I'm telling you to leave because I will kill you if you don't."

Dead silence greeted his statement, and it only took one glance at the Headmaster's body language to realize that he meant every word he said. The threat was so casual, so matter of fact, and as soon as it was uttered the already tense atmosphere became tenfold thicker.

"H-hey," Cab began, his voice wavering. " _Did he just say that? No way he just said that,"_ he thought wildly, not quite believing what he had just heard. Minerva's hands had flown to her mouth, torn between being saddened and shocked. "Don't you think that's – "

"Stay out of this," Shuta told his friend curtly, flicking his gaze at the prince as if he just noticed he was there.

Who knew? He very well might have.

Clouder, to his credit, knew when to fold. Nodding solemnly, he turned back and started walking, pausing only to speak one last time to the other Juniors.

"I really did mean what I said," he told them quietly, very aware of Shuta's sub-zero glare on him. "I'm on your side, now. I'll prove it one day."

With that, Clouder departed, not giving one glance back at the trio. Cab and Minerva watched his armored form as he went, before slowly turning back toward Shuta, who was regarding them with now unreadable eyes. It would have made for an amazing poker face, had the teen possessed the inclination.

"Well?" he finally asked, turning his eyes back toward the horizon again. "Why're you guys here?"

Both flinched involuntarily. Despite Shuta's tone having lost a great deal of its venom with the departure of the Godmaster, that hadn't meant it had warmed up any, and his voice was still that no-nonsense borderline monotone.

"We were worried about you," Minerva said, finally, looking as concerned as she had ever been. "When we saw that you left…" she left it hanging, not quite sure how to finish as she fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Yeah, that's right! Why'd you go off so suddenly, anyway?" Cab asked, laughing a little to mask his nervousness, reaching back to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Shuta shrugged diffidently. "Needed some time to think," he told them. He added with a touch of bitterness, "It was working fine until Clouder showed up."

"Oh! Yeah, we kind of… we saw that," Cab sad lamely, not quite knowing what to say. Shuta merely nodded in acknowledgement, but said nothing else.

A few very uncomfortable seconds passed. Finally, Minerva could stand it no longer.

"Are you okay?" she blurted out, only to have Cab look at her with an incredulous look on his face and Shuta much the same. She felt like cringing. _"Of all the foolish things to…!"_

"I'm peachy," Shuta answered curtly. "Well okay, I'm a little pissed off about the base my dad made being nothing but rubble now because we loaded up on excessive trust issues during a bargain sale or something, but besides that I'm fine," he tossed out, in a tone that was far too rehearsed and cutting to be off the cuff.

Cab's eyes widened. While he wasn't sure if Shuta had meant to sound that caustic and cruel, it had come out pretty viciously and there was no doubt how the blonde girl would take it.

Minerva winced - the remark cut deep - and despite herself she felt tears starting to prick her eyes. "I was just worried, you know," she choked out, fighting down the wave of guilt she felt despite Shuta not having named her explicitly. "You don't have to be mean."

Practically growling, Shuta wheeled around again and threw up his hands. "Well, I'm sorry. What would you prefer I do, then, exactly?" he spat out, not particularly concerned with being nice at the moment.

"Hey, take it easy – Clouder's gone new, remember?" Cab jumped in, trying to defuse things before they got any worse. Shuta was practically shaking with repressed tension and anger, and Minerva seemed like she was on the verge of crying. _"Man, you know things are bad when_ _ **I'm**_ _the voice of reason…"_

Unsurprisingly, that really didn't help matters much at all. Rolling his eyes, Shuta waved his hand in disgust at the direction that the older teen had gone in. "Good riddance," he muttered savagely. "He wanted to come here to apologize? What a joke."

Minerva spoke up then, though considering how stung she felt it was doubtful she had put any thought into her next words. "So?" she demanded harshly, the strain she was feeling manifesting itself as petulance. "What's wrong with that?"

"Watch it, Minerva," Cab cautioned, as he noticed Shuta's eyes start to narrow again. Damn, he had to at least _try_ to keep things from getting worse. They were still friends, (emotional as they both were) and there was no way he'd just sit by and let them rip into each other, because that's where it looked like it was escalating to. "Maybe you should take some time to cool off too – "

She barreled on, unheeding of Cab's warning and barely managing to fight the tears threatening to spill. Swiping at her eyes furiously, she struggled to get her breathing back under control as she returned Shuta's glare with equal measure. Where did he get off talking to her like that, anyway? All she had wanted to do was to make sure he was okay, and now he…!

"What's wrong with that?" Minerva repeated, her sapphire eyes bright with emotion as she looked at Shuta. "He said he was sorry, and he wanted to apologize, right? You didn't have to threaten him like that! And you certainly don't have to jump down my throat for coming to make sure you're all right, which is just looking like a massive waste of time right now!"

"In case you're forgetting," Shuta snapped back harshly, barely registering the flash of hurt he felt upon hearing her words. "The last time we bought what he was selling something happened – I can't quite remember what though - "

He stopped then, his eyes going facetiously wide as he turned around and pretended to survey the wreckage in front of him before he turned back with an exaggerated shrug. "Oh, right," he drawled, the sarcasm dripping from his tone. _"_ **That."**

"Guys!" Cab yelled with more than a tinge of desperation as he saw Minerva flinch again as she bit her lip and looked down at her feet, a look of furious frustration coming over her features. "Take it easy, would you? Look, I get that we're all on edge right now, but I doubt that – "

Again, the prince of Karin would be denied the chance to finish his thought as Minerva threw up her hands and strode forward, marching right by Cab like he wasn't even there. "What do you want from me, Shuta?" she demanded, her normally kind sapphire eyes blazing with their own fire now, matching the icy glare from Shuta perfectly. "Am I supposed to be sorry for looking for the good in someone?"

"First off," Shuta responded, the sub-zero frost once again present in his tone, "I'm hardly jumping down your throat. Get off the cross, we need the wood. Second," he rolled on, willfully ignoring the effect his words were having on the blonde. "I don't want anything from you. There's nothing to be done now, so forget it," he told her, turning his back as he finished and keeping his gaze on the horizon.

Had Shuta been rational, he would have been able to see the underlying guilt fueling his friend's actions. As it stood, he was simply too emotional and shortsighted to do anything other than lash out.

"Oh, 'nothing to be done', then?" Minerva mimicked mockingly, her voice still clear and strong despite the tears finally making their way down her cheeks. "So you're just acting like a big jerk for no reason in particular?"

For whatever reason, those words hit him harder than any other, and he felt his hands curl into fists as his temper boiled over. Finally – _finally_ – he had enough.

"Well, what can I say?" he fired back with a snarl as he whirled around. "On the whole it's been a crap day, so I'm _sorry_ if – "

The sight of his two friends, however, stopped the incoming rant cold. Cab looked absolutely… helpless. Like he wanted something desperately but was unable to do anything at all. It was an expression that wasn't fitting on the prince, Shuta decided. And Minerva…

The image of tears streaming down the blonde's cheeks in spite of her attempts to hold them back lanced through him like a knife, and suddenly the roiling inferno that had been ready to explode suddenly vanished, leaving behind only a vast, gaping numbness -

_"What… what am I doing…?"_

Weakly, almost all of his tension disappearing at once, Shuta took a shaky step backwards, exhaling harshly in a long, staggered breath.

"Shuta?" Cab asked worriedly, seeing his friend suddenly stumble and drop his gaze toward his feet.

Silence. Then…

"No. No, you're… you're right," Shuta admitted, his voice still low and quiet but once again sounding like the person they knew.

Minerva looked up in surprise, her cheeks still wet with moisture. "What?"

"You're right," he continued, Shuta's words coming out more labored now. "You didn't want for any of this to happen. You _do_ look for the good in people, it's just who you are. I mean, look at Cancer, right? And I…"

His breath hitched violently then, and his fellow two Juniors stepped forward immediately as Shuta looked up.

The sight of glistening eyes and a brittle, broken smile made Minerva's heart clench and Cab's face fall. It was honestly a toss-up from whom this was worse; Minerva, who had never seen him like this, or Cab, who had witnessed pain like this once before, when the sympathetic Cybertrons had left a newly minted orphan to grieve.

"I'm yelling at my friends who came to see if I was okay," he laughed, the noise sounding harsh and dissonant in the quiet air, and truth be told it bore closer resemblance to a stifled sob if nothing else. "God, I'm such a – "

"N-no," Minerva stuttered, her own ire gone now, having been replaced with the all too familiar sensation of helpless guilt as she stared at her clearly devastated friend. "You're not – I didn't mean…"

"You did," Shuta replied quietly, but there was no accusation or condemnation; he was merely stating a fact. "And you… you're right," he exhaled, staring at Minerva through rapidly blurring vision. "I'm sorry – "

The unbidden memory of shaky fingers clenching around a key prove to be the teen's undoing, and he resisted the urge to turn and run as the tears started to fall, the pain of old wounds being ripped open finally proving too much to overcome.

"I'm sorry," he whispered brokenly, his head dropping as he finally cried, hating himself for his weakness, his helplessness, his inability to once again do anything…

Had he been looking up, he would have seen Minerva suddenly walk up to him, much to Cab's surprise.

The sensation of arms pulling him close hit him then, followed by the pleasant, familiar scent of golden hair.

"I know. I'm sorry, too," Minerva told him, her voice sounding shaky and contrite and comforting all at once, and Shuta felt the numbness in his chest ease just a little bit as he reciprocated the gesture.

Minerva, for her part, hadn't exactly planned this out in advance, but he seemed to be receptive enough; he was calming down, at any rate, and she was more than happy to remain where she was if it helped even a little bit.

"It's all right," she murmured again, sounding more confident this time, raising a hand and brushing her fingertips along his cheek.

Shuta, still not trusting his voice, simply nodded and closed his eyes as he tried hard to regain control, focusing on the soothing sound of her breathing as he leaned against her, unwilling to let go just yet.

The feel of another arm slinging around his shoulder made him grin despite himself, and he removed one arm from Minerva to do the same to Cab.

"Smooth bastard," he heard Cab jibe lightly, before he asked in a more sombre tone "Are you all right?"

"Are you, Shuta?" Minerva asked next, stepping back a little bit to stare worriedly at him, her sapphire eyes locked squarely on his own.

He smiled genuinely – albeit sadly – at them both, before slowly nodding.

"Honestly? Not really," Shuta admitted, raising a hand to forestall any worried protests. "I'll probably get there sooner or later, though," he added, the cheer in his words slight but present.

"Hey, now! Don't make it sound like you'll be doing it by yourself, huh?" Cab mockingly lectured him, a relieved grin on the prince's face.

"That's right," Minerva jumped in resolutely, nodding at Shuta with a serious expression of her own.

It was, without a doubt, the corniest moment Shuta had ever experienced with his friends, but that didn't diminish the warmth that was suddenly coursing through his chest.

"… yeah, guess I won't be, huh?" he responded rhetorically, favoring them both with another hesitant (but bigger this time, they noted) smile.

A brief pause, though not awkward or uncomfortable. "Thank you, guys."

"S'all right," Cab told him, giving his friend a companionable squeeze to the shoulder before releasing him. "But we should probably get back soon, huh? I mean, it's been a while since we found you out here, and an even bigger while since you took off."

Shuta, however, merely shook his head in response. "That's a good idea, but you guys go ahead first. I'll catch up in a bit, I promise," he added upon seeing the prince immediately look worried again.

Before Cab could inject though, Minerva spoke up, an understanding look on her face. "If you say so, Shuta."

The teal haired teen opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it as he shrugged his shoulder. "Alright. Want me to tell Hawk and the others you'll be a little bit longer?"

Shuta nodded. "Yeah, Cab. Thanks."

Karin's prince simply waved a hand at him and flashed him an easygoing grin as he began to walk. "No problem. Catch you back there! Hopefully the mood's picked up a little bit since we were there last…"

Minerva simply laughed quietly as she prepared to follow. "I would hope so. See you after?"

"Sure thing," Shuta told her, though the blonde was quick to catch the split second troubled expression that crossed his face.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head quizzically.

"Um… look, uh – about earlier…" Shuta began, looking more uncomfortable than anything else. "Are you still... I mean… are we good?" he finally got out, somehow finding the will to make eye contact.

Needless to say, he was taken aback when her response was to smile and laugh a little bit louder and longer than before. He didn't quite get why, but considering how he made her cry earlier it was a significant improvement.

"We're good," she assured him, stepping in and giving him a quick hug before she pulled back again. "If you do want to make it up, though – promise that if anything bad happens again, you're not going to go off again and brood by yourself, okay? We were worried."

"Wasn't brooding," Shuta protested, though the teen didn't sound nearly as obstinate as he normally might have.

"Pick your own term, then," Minerva teased playfully, before turning around to follow Cab. "I'll see you in a bit?"

"You bet."

Nodding in response, the medic started to follow her fellow Junior, leaving Shuta alone with the landscape once more.

He had to admit, even after what had just happened – it still kind of hurt. But the pain was tempered with feelings of friendship and comfort, and not even the thought of Clouder could resurrect the cold, acid hate that had been eating away at him since the base's destruction.

That's not the way that his dad would have wanted him to be, anyway.

"They got us this time, Dad," he acknowledged, speaking to the wind as he raised his hand to wipe slightly moist eyes. "But it's not over yet. We're gonna win, and drive the Destrons off this planet. After that… I don't know. But your work wasn't destroyed for nothing. Hawk, me, and the others will make sure of that."

With that, Shuta began his own trek back to the other Cybertrons, his shoulders higher and his heart lighter than before, with the words left unspoken running through his head like a creed.

" _I'll become stronger, and I'll make you proud."_

Taking a breath of clean, crisp air, he started to walk again, as the vow echoing in his mind's eye burned the dark away.

* * *

First off - I swear; despite my other MF stories this wasn't supposed to be shippy. If it turned out like that… I can only shrug and apologize.

This was actually the first of my Masterforce fics; I began it waaaaay back in 2007, a time period in which I was pretty much burned out on writing. I got through a good chunk of it before calling it quits and telling myself I would finish 'later'. (It's now late 2012. I have a Kamen Rider Kabuto fic of all things waiting in the wings too, and god only knows I missed the peak fan demand for fics of that ilk.  Also, it's now 2016 when I'm posting this on AO3, sooooooo... yeah).

Long story short, that's why my writing may appear… rougher, in some parts. I wanted to keep the general tone of the earlier revision and just clean up some stuff.

This fic came about when I was actually thinking all those years ago about Shuta's character; a normal kid, who gets dragged into an alien war, who subsequently sees his remaining parental figure die because of that war. You know that, had Masterforce been made in the 2000's, there was a very good chance Shuta would have had the angst dial cranked to 11 as a result. While I'm glad that didn't happen, I do kind of feel that the show took the opposite tack – it never touched on it all outside of a few dramatic moments. While Shuta doesn't seem the type to carry Batman-esque baggage, he also doesn't seem like the type of person to get over it as quickly as the show made it seem like he did.

And so, this story was born; an exploration of what he might have felt like after the destruction of the Cybertron base. While there's no indication one way or the other on screen how Shuta dealt with his loss, I took the view that there was a small part of his generally happy, hot-blooded exterior that held some serious, unhealthy resentment for the Destrons ever since his dad was killed. Taken by itself (and mitigated with missions and Cab/Minerva interaction) it's not really a big deal. Understandable, really. But when someone decides to rip open those still healing wounds… well, that should go beyond typical _shonen_ hot-blood, and I hope I got that across. We saw Shuta angry a bunch of times in the anime – this was my shot at looking at him genuinely enraged. Possibly OOC? Maybe.

Huh. In retrospect, this was a lot of thought for a Masterforce story. It was probably a good thing I waited five years before starting it up again…


End file.
